


Fight the Future

by scullywolf



Series: TXF: Scenes in Between [118]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-12 00:22:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5647144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scullywolf/pseuds/scullywolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>(screencap credit goes to <a href="http://gillianandersonfan.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=330&pid=500#top_display_media">gillianandersonfan.com</a> this time; the movie’s not on Netflix, and I was too lazy to hassle with pulling a pic off the DVD)</p></blockquote>





	Fight the Future

At least they hadn’t split them up this time. The X-Files may have been closed, the office destroyed, years of work reduced to ashes, but he hadn’t lost Scully, too. Not yet, anyway. Technically, they were only on a temporary loan to Counterterrorism, with official reassignment still hanging over their heads down the road, but he chose not to think about that too much. For the time being, he still had his partner.

The FBI’s Counterterrorism Division performed huge amounts of surveillance, so they periodically pulled in agents from other divisions, on a temporary basis, to help transcribe audio recordings and run background checks. They could always use extra hands, so with the X-Files closed, it was the obvious place to stick Mulder and Scully until Skinner could figure out what to do with them. It was tremendously dull work, though, and after the first week, Mulder was nearly out of his mind with boredom. 

So when the order came in that they were needed as backup on an operation in Dallas, he was out of the bullpen and halfway down the hall before Scully caught up with him, bearing both a scowl and the briefcase he'd abandoned at their borrowed workstation. He took it from her with a shrug and a lopsided grin. 

“Careful, Mulder. They might mistake your racing out of here for genuine enthusiasm. You could wind up with a permanent assignment in Counterterrorism.”

He gave a theatrical shudder and was rewarded with a quiet chuckle. They made their way, along with half a dozen other agents, to the airport, and were boarding a flight to Dallas within the hour. It had always struck him as a bit ridiculous, pulling in backup from halfway across the country for a bomb threat, which was, by its very nature, an immediate and time-sensitive sort of operation. But protocol was protocol, and in any event, Mulder wasn’t going to complain about having an excuse to escape the mundanity of surveillance transcripts, even for just a day or two.

Scully, ever the consummate professional, never complained or made any show of being dissatisfied with their temporary assignment, but the tiny smile on her face as they settled into their seats gave her away. It was so slight, the barest upward curve of her lips, that someone less familiar with her might have missed it completely. Mulder leaned over, his voice pitched low.

“Don’t get too excited. I don’t think we’ll be running into any vampires on _this_ trip to the Lone Star State.”

She rolled her eyes at him, but her smile widened for just a moment before she schooled her features into a mask of professionalism and opened the book she’d bought at the airport. Mulder leaned back into his own seat and closed his eyes. He could almost pretend this was just another trip, he and Scully off to unravel the latest paranormal mystery.

After they landed, there was a flurry of activity as they and the other agents were shuttled over to the site of the operation, a federal office building downtown. They checked in with the SAC and received instructions to standby in the staging area until they were needed, a small cluster of pop-up canopies in the corner of the parking lot across the street. The meager shade provided by the canopies didn’t do much to cut the sweltering heat of the day, and Mulder was soon sweating beneath his FBI windbreaker.

It was probably the heat making him restless, but as they stood there baking in the Texas sun, he couldn’t shake a nagging impulse to go investigate the building behind them. He didn’t think that impulse was _entirely_ motivated by a desire to seek out some air conditioning; it was more than that. A tug in his gut kept pulling his gaze back to the building everyone was ignoring. Yes, the threat had been called in to the other one, across the street from the parking lot where they waited, but according to the SAC during their initial briefing, the team hadn’t yet found any indication of explosives. Certainly it couldn’t _hurt_ anything to make a sweep of the surrounding area. It had to be better than standing around doing nothing.

When he could ignore the impulse no longer, he turned to his partner. “Hey Scully, c’mere a sec,” he said, and started walking across the parking lot toward the building behind him.

She caught up after a few steps. “Where are you going?”

“I just want to check something out.”

**Author's Note:**

> (screencap credit goes to [gillianandersonfan.com](http://gillianandersonfan.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=330&pid=500#top_display_media) this time; the movie’s not on Netflix, and I was too lazy to hassle with pulling a pic off the DVD)


End file.
